Monday, September 12, 2005

With hindsight being 20/20, I have been wondering why members of Louisiana's Congressional and Senatorial delegations have not made flood protection in New Orleans a more pressing concern historically. The government funds a lot of pork--why not something that would have been sorely needed? And, particularly in recent memory, there seem to have been plenty of opportunities for individual legislators to hold up the government's business to get what they want. Maybe the issue is that Louisiana's delegations just don't have the seniority and influence.

And then I remembered that Louisiana came close nearly 7 years ago, when Bob Livingston of the First District was unopposed in his bid to succeed Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House. And then his own marital infidelities got in the way, and we heard from him no more.

Just wondering: If Livingston had managed to become Speaker of the House in January of 1999, would we have seen any improvement in New Orleans' capacity to withstand Hurricane Katrina?

(By the way, the current representative from Louisiana's first district is an ace--I'll put my money on him to be a leader in the national government in the next several years.)

About Me

I am a Professor of Economics and the Director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College. I am on the board of Ledyard Financial Group (LFGP) and currently serve on the Census Scientific Advisory Committee. I blog about economics, politics, and current events at http://samwick.blogspot.com. The opinions expressed here, there, and everywhere do not necessarily reflect the views of Dartmouth College or any other institution with which I am affiliated.

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